Paths Once Crossed
by Jewell Trim
Summary: It's been six months since the Ella accident and things seem to settle down, or are they? A letter comes in that threatens to destroy their tight knit family.
1. Chapter 1

It has been three months with hardly any problems for the kids.

Travis was dealing with the business of putting them in a more permanent home but in the mean time Nettie's was their playground.

The boys eagerly showed off their riding skills to Chris who watched them on the fence.

He still wasn't ready to get back on the horse as it was called and preferred to watch the others instead.

Vin rode over on his horse, Peso, to where Chris was perched.

"Come on and join us, cowboy!"

Chris's eyebrow twitched at the nickname, "I think I'll wait a few more days before doing any riding."

"But there are more horses in the stable for you to ride. I can go with you to look at them. I even know all their names."

Chris looked down at the ground. He hadn't been up long on the fence and the thought of getting down already sounded exhausting, but he didn't spend as much time with Vin or really with any of the boys, so he nodded and slipped off the fence and began making his way to the stable with Vin riding beside him.

Chris rested his head against the stall door of a black gelding that had a white star on her head.

The horse had walked over to him and nuzzled her head against his. He limply stroked her nose.

"You like her? That's Pony. She's seven years old. She has a fiery spirit and can outrun many of the other horses on the ranch." Vin said as he put Peso away.

"Vin."

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry I haven't been acting myself."

"It's ok, I know you probably have a lot on your mind and you're probably trying to adjust to Nettie and Travis."

"It's not that."

Vin frowned and got a little closer to his friend.

"What's the matter?"

Chris pulled out a crumpled envelope from his back pocket and handed it to Vin.

Vin took it and looked over the return address. There wasn't one.

"Is this one of yours?" he asked, looking up from the envelope.

"Read it."

Vin opened the envelope and pulled out a letter. The handwriting was feminine, that he knew, but he wasn't good at reading and he cursed himself for skipping school for so long. Chris had given him the letter expecting him to read it and he couldn't do that.

"Can you just summarize it for me?" he asked after trying for two minutes.

Chris let out a sigh, "It basically says this,"

 ** _Dear Chris,_**

 ** _It's been awhile since we've seen each other, and I can see that you're miserable_**

 ** _I can make that all go away. Everything and everyone that feed you these lies that they love you. I know who they are. I know their names and their past. I can make them all go away so it will be just the two of us. We can run away together and go where ever you want. Make no mistake in thinking that I will let you love anyone besides me. Anyone who tries to get between us will be squashed. I'm a one guy kinda girl and I expect the same in return._**

 ** _Love your's,_**

 ** _E.L._**

Vin shivered, "E.L.?"

"Ella Gaines. I think she figured out my last name, or at least the beginning letter and put it as her last name"

"How does she know where we live?"

"I don't know, but it's like I can feel a chill run down my spine as if she's watching me even now."

"Have you told Nettie or even Travis?"

Chris shook his head, "You're the only one I've told. Until now I've been keeping to myself."

"When did this letter come?"

"This one came about a week ago."

"There's more!"

"Three."

"Chris, you got to tell someone. I mean I'm glad you finally told me, but Travis needs to know."

"No!" Chris snapped, "He's busy already with trying to get the papers all signed so we can all live together. I can handle this by myself."

"Don't push us away again, cowboy." Vin frowned as he delivered the nickname.

"This girl is crazy, and the last thing I need is any of you in trouble because of it. It could've gotten Ezra killed."

"And it nearly killed you."

Chris pushed himself away from the stall, "I got myself into this and I'll find a way to get out of it." he stormed out of the stable and back into the house.

Vin huffed and patted Pony on the nose.

Josiah and Nathan were playing a game of chess when Chris stormed into the house and went into his room.

"What's his problem?" frowned Nathan.

"Not sure. He's been acting strange lately, I mean more than usual. He keeps isolating himself and just stares out over the ranch as if he's trying to find something." Josiah shrugged.

"You don't think he's thinking about leaving do you?"

"I don't know, brother."

Just then Ezra walked in from the back of the house and yawned. He had slept that morning. The flu had hit him after he was released from the hospital and was still groggy.

"Morning sleepy head, or should I say afternoon. You're lucky it's summer." laughed Nathan.

"Not too loud, Nathan. My body has yet to awake and I prefer not to be startled up."

"Did Chris wake you?" Josiah smiled.

Ezra sat down on the couch and rubbed his eyes. His hair was uncharastically messy and his clothes were slightly shifted so that the front of his pants were on his side.

"That he did. One minute I was dreaming of a poker game where I held three kings with a stack of hundreds waiting for me to pick them up and then next thing I know I'm almost smothered awake by Chris dropping a pillow over my face."

"Your nose still stuffed up?" asked Nathan.

"So much so I think that I'm relying on breathing through my mouth which will only result in a sore throat." Ezra coughed.

"I wonder why you get sick easier than the rest of us." Nathan frowned.

Ezra didn't answer as he blew his nose.

"Maybe because he isn't used to doing anything so his body isn't used to moving as much." Josiah rose an eyebrow.

"It could be that he's anemic."

"Beg your pardon but I'm healthy. I just got a cold is all."

"Ez, you get sicker than any of us and you always stay indoors if possible. Your vitamin D is probably non-existent. That and your immune system is down."

"Isn't it usually when you're sick." Ezra sniffed and coughed as a result.

"Are you feeling sad or depressed at all?" asked Nathan.

"Ok!" Ezra said loudly and sat up, "You guys were talking about Chris before I got here. Why don't you continue that conversation and not worry about my personal health."

Josiah shrugged, "Not much left to say about it. Chris is just acting strange and likes to be alone. He doesn't even talk to Vin as much."

Ezra frowned, "I've noticed that he goes off every now and then. Several times I caught him reading something. A note."

"From what?"asked Nathan, forgetting their game.

"Not sure from what. Nettie gives him letters from the mail, maybe that was what he was reading."

"Is he writing the girl from Purgatory?"

"No, he knows the number and would just call her."

"Then what is he reading and who could be sending them?" frowned Josiah.

Buck ran into the house after putting up his horse. He was on his way to the bathroom and ran past Chris sitting on the floor of his room that he shared with Vin and Ezra.

Buck stopped, "You ok there, old dog?"

Chris mumbled an affirmative before he got up and laid on his bed with a flop.

"You aren't catching Ezra's cold are you?"

"No."

"Then what's eating at you?" Buck came into the room and sat close to where Chris's head was resting.

"You ever felt stuck, like you're cornered and can't do anything to prevent what's about to happen."

Buck frowned, "Something bothering you?"

Chris turned his head to the wall, "I don't want to lose everything again."

Buck put an encouraging hand on his friend's shoulder before retreating to the bathroom.

He wondered what Chris was talking about losing everything again. He wasn't sure if he was talking about his family or not, but if he was then he was going to make sure that didn't to him. Chris needed a little happiness in his life after all that has happened to him and whatever is still happening to him.

As soon as Travis arrived tomorrow, he would go and talk to him.

JD sat on his little horse and went around in the fenced in area for him to ride in. He wondered if he should go in with the others but didn't' feel like getting off yet. By the time he was about ready to get up, Casey came out on her horse.

JD sat straighter as she trotted over to him.

"Hey JD!"

"Hi." he said while studying her. He didn't understand why she kept acting like a boy and before he knew it, she began to occupy most of his thoughts.

"Wanna go on a ride with me?" she asked cheerfully.

"Why so you can brag about how good of a rider you are?" he asked suspiciously.

"No, I just wanted to spend time with you."

"Well I don't want to. You're already too complicated for me to understand and it's annoying."

He kicked his horse and rode off to the stables, leaving a dejected Casey.

Vin was coming out of the stables when JD entered, "Hey, I thought Casey was going to ask you to go on a ride."

"She did but I ain't going." said JD as he slipped off his horse and began removing the saddle.

"Why?" frowned Vin.

"She's confusing. She likes to get in my head and then acts all innocent about it."

JD quickly finished in the stable and walked back to the house.

Vin shook his head and rubbed JD's horse down, not quite ready to go back in yet.

Casey came back in with her horse following behind her.

"You okay?" asked VIn a little worried.

A few minutes ago the girl was excitedly saddling her horse and telling him about her plans to ride with JD. Now she was walking slowly and sighed.

"I don't know what I did wrong for him to hate me. Is it me, Vin?"

Vin flustered and tried to think of an answer. Lucky for him Ezra walked in at that exact moment and he deflected the question on the other boy, "Hey Ez, why do you think JD acts the way he does to Casey?"

Ezra looked up in surprise at being addressed and he frowned at the question.

"I beg your pardon."

"I think JD hates me, what do you think?" asked Casey, turning her attention onto him.

Ezra looked over her shoulder and saw Vin sneaking out the back.

He sighed, "I'm pretty sure he doesn't hate you. I think you're like an 1000 piece puzzle to JD and he's just not good with figuring them out."

"JD's clever!"

"He is, that's why he's probably struggling to figure you out and at the same time comes off as doesn't mean it."

Casey nodded, "So can you help me. You know, figure out the puzzle pieces."

"I do believe Buck is more suited for that job."

"Ok." she handed her reins to Ezra and dashed off to the house.

Vin peeked back into the stable, "Well done Ezra."

Ezra looked at the reins and then up at Vin confused, "What just happened?"

Ella sat down in at a little table across from the long haired boy who was eyeing her suspiciously.

"Why did you want me here?" he snarled.

Ella didn't rush but took a sip of her coffee and sat it down. She dug into her purse and produced a small stack of photos and spread them on the table for him to see.

"Anyone look familiar?" she asked.

The boy looked at the photos. They were all of the same person but from different angles and different times of the day.

The boy picked up the one that was pretty close up and was taking from the side.

The person in the pictures had long brown hair to his shoulders and was smiling at something.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"I took them myself. From where he is staying currently. I can tell you, but it will cost you something in return for the information."

The boy grinned and took the picture of Vin and slipped it into his pocket, "Name your price."

 **A/N: So who could this mysterious boy be? I guess you'll already know. There's only one other person I haven't mentioned from the series. Well, we're starting in on the last book! What do you think so far? It's going to be less sprinting and more of a marathon. I tried to play a little with the Killer Ladies episode with Vin, Ezra and Casey :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chris crossed the room to where he hid the rest of the threat letters he had received. He was contemplating the idea of actually telling Travis.

Maybe he could figure a solution to these threats that he couldn't find himself.

After hiding the letters again, he wandered into the front room where the others were. Chris overheard Casey and Buck's discussion. It was quite interesting.

"Can you help me to get JD to like me and not think I'm a puzzle."

"A puzzle?" asked Buck.

"Ezra says that JD doesn't like me because I'm a puzzle and JD isn't good with puzzles."

"Oh, I see." Buck nodded, finally understanding what was going on.

"What's wrong?" asked Chris.

"JD has been acting weird around Casey and she wants to make it so JD stops running away from her." explained Buck.

Chris smalled.

"Do you have any wisdom to share with the group?"

Chris shrugged, "Depends on the relationship you're trying to achieve."

"Yeah, you missed our love-talk we had like eight months ago."

"Love-talk?" frowned Chris, "For who?"

"Well we had made a comment about young love and that made Vin uncomfortable when we tried to explain there are different kinds of love to him. It was so funny, he freaked out and ran so fast I swear I saw smoke." Buck laughed.

"So you're referring to familial love."

"No, I think she likes him."

Casey punched Buck in the arm.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"I don't think you were fooling anyone but JD, Casey." smiled Josiah.

Chris just shrugged, "I wasn't here for long but I could see a little something going on."

Casey blushed and crossed her arms, "Well if it ain't much of a secret then you can help me."

"I wouldn't know about relationships." said Chris, trying to get out of the conversation and get to the phone.

"That's not true. I believe you're the only one to have been in a relationship out of any of us." Buck pointed out.

Everyone looked up at Chris whose features went cold.

"A relationship some people may have called it, but it didn't end well, the pain goes on."

No one said anything so he walked off. Satisfied that his pain brought silence.

He found the phone and began dialing Travis's number.

He listened to the ringing until the other end picked up.

"Travis?" asked Chris.

"Mr Travis isn't home right now." came a girl's voice.

"Who's this?" Chris frowned.

"Mary." as he was supposed to know who that was.

Chris thought hard, trying to remember if he knew a Mary, "Am I supposed to know you?"

"This is Chris right?"

"Yeah." Chris was now puzzled.

"We met at the hospital. You were on medication so you probably don't remember."

The light in Chris's head turned on. A girl was in his room when he woke up for a short amount of time. He didn't know her or why she was looking over him.

"Why are you there?" After he said it he felt like an idiot.

"I'm hanging out with Stephen."

"Yeah, of course. Well when will Travis be back?"

"I don't know. Do you want to ask Stephen?"

"No it's fine. I'll just call tomorrow."

"Do you want me to tell him to call you back?"

"Didn't I just say that I'll call tomorrow."

"Well I figured if it was important then he could call you back tonight instead of waiting."

"It can wait another day." he was about to hang up when he heard her say something. "What did you say?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"I know you have no reason to talk to me, but if you can't talk to any of your friends then you can always talk to me."

"Thanks but, if I'm not going to be talking to the people I consider as family then that probably means I won't be talking to a girl who's as good as a stranger."

he hung up and walked back into the room.

The others had all settled down and were discussing something.

"If you guys are so bent on getting JD to talk to Casey then just tell him to. That's the fastest way." Chris said, drawing their attention to him at the doorway.

"Nettie just heard from Mr Travis earlier today and told us that Buck's family is looking for him."

Chris went cold, "What?" he said looking to his old friend.

"They heard that I survived the shipwreck and am in the states. They want me to stay with them until I can get back to England."

"Where?"

"New York."

"New York." repeated Chris, "But isn't that on the other side of the country?"

"It is." said Ezra, "Over a thousand and seven hundred miles away."

Chris looked away, trying to absorb the information.

"You aren't going to go are you?"

"Chris, I have no choice. They're my family. Even if I wanted to try and stay, they would win over any custody battle because they're related."

"Even if, you don't want to stay?" frowned Chris.

"Ok, I guess I phrased that wrong, but our original plan was for us all to try and live with them in New York remember?"

"But would they take all eight of us?"

Buck shrugged, "I don't know. I could ask, but that isn't our only problem right now with trying to get us all staying together."

"What do you mean?"

"My father is also looking for me." mumbled Josiah.

Chris looked from Buck to Josiah.

"Ok, but you don't want to stay with your father so we keep it a secret that you're alive."

"He knows already, Chris."

Chris silently cursed and ran his hands through his hair, trying to think.

He was fighting back frustrated tears that were threatening to start falling.

"Also I have to go back for my sister. I don't know how she is doing and I don't want to leave her alone if I'm able to protect her from him."

"So this is it then. You two are leaving."

"Chris, it's not like we want to leave, but we have obligations to our families and no custody battle would side over family."

Chris stormed out of the room, losing his battle to keep the tears from falling and not wanting the others to see him cry.

When he reached his room he began tearing up what little belongings he had and threw them across the room. He tore at his hair and collapsed on the floor, gritting his teeth to keep himself from screaming.

His eyes burned and snot ran from his nose.

What was happening to him? Why couldn't he keep his feelings in check? No, that wasn't the right questions. Why was this all happening now? Why couldn't they be left alone and stay together happily.

He looked over to his bed to where he hid the letters from Ella under his bed.

Chris crawled over to the location and knelt as he looked at each letter.

Somehow she was behind all of this. She was doing this to his family. She was nearby and probably knew what was happening right now.

Chris crumpled up the letters and tossed it across the room and rubbed the tears from his eyes and wiped the snot off his face.

He knew he would have to stand up in front of his friends and try to offer advice or any support that they would need. He couldn't do that if he was like this.

Chris snuck into the bathroom and washed his face and then he washed it a second time. Frustrated, he looked in the mirror. He only saw his own reflection, but it was like there was another person watching him. Ella.

He dried off his face and stormed out of the bathroom and into his room.

He could be their support in the morning when he had time for all of this to settle.

The others listened to the door slam shut.

"You think Chris is going to be ok?" asked Vin.

"I think we should've waited a day before telling him about Josiah." said Inez.

"About Josiah, how are we going to tell him about you being an illegal immigrant as well as himself. How are we going to begin telling him about Nathan's situation or Vin's." said Ezra as he pinched the bridge of his nose.  
The others all looked down at their hands.

"We need to tell him sooner rather than later." sighed Nathan.

"What if we do what he suggested? What if we run away?" Vin said as he looked around the room.

"You know that can't work for a group as big as ours."

"Part of me now wishes that we never reached this point. If we were still in the jungle then none of this would be a problem." JD whispered and curled into a ball.

"And at the same time, if we didn't accept Travis's proposal and came up with him to the States then we wouldn't have to deal with these sort of legal issues." nodded Josiah.

"Are you all forgetting how far we were from reaching states when we met Mr Travis. I know that it feels like the pits of despair right now but we probably wouldn't have even made it without him." frowned Ezra.

"I know you don't really care because you're already planning on leaving us when we got here." muttered Buck.

Ezra turned to Buck.

"I know you don't have a high opinion of me, but I thought we got over this point already."

"You guys stop." snapped Inez.

"No, let him say what he want's to say." said Buck.

"Last year you asked me to stop my search for my family and see if I could find Mr Larabee. I did so with the resolve that I would put that aside because I thought I already found my family here, but every single time. Every time when something goes wrong, you all side against me like I'm the enemy. You always give me that look. The look you're giving me right now."

There was a long silence.

"I think what we need to do is to go back to the beginning. We need to forget about everything. Every past offense that anyone has caused up till this point and reestablish relationships." suggested Josiah.

"What, so you guys can forget how you all treated me?" growled Ezra.

"No, so we can all move past this point and be a family again. I think we all should apologize to one another and if they have something to say to another they should get it off their chest now so we can live together in peace of mind."

For the next hour the boys and Inez spent time apologizing and forgiving one another.

"I also have a confession." said Nathan. "It's been eating away at me for sometime and I thought since it was over that it didn't matter anymore." They all looked confused so he continued, "Vin, it wasn't your fault that we ended up in South America."

"What do you mean?"

"Your directional skills are fine. I was cleaning the room where the captain had the map in place. I saw the direction he was taking the ship. We were headed to South America."

"But why?" frowned Ezra. "We were supposed to go to New York."

"I don't know, but he had a point in South America circled."

There was a slight pause, "Do you think he was heading for the place where we had landed?"

"As crooked of a man as him, I wouldn't doubt it for one second." huffed Buck.

"I wonder what he was going to do down there." Vin said thoughtfully.

"Nothing anymore."

"Ok, since we're all forgiven and apologized, should we group hug?" smiled Inez.

"Uh, can we say we did and don't?" asked Buck.

"What, too manly to hold?"

"You, no." he grinned.

Inez pulled him into and hug but then switched positions and pushed Ezra into his arms.

Buck grunted at the change, but didn't protest. Ezra however was muttering under his breath. JD grinned and joined in on the hug. The others soon followed. Vin looked to Chris's bedroom door.

"This doesn't feel the same without Chris."

"If you want we can all gang up on him in the morning and give him a hug." smiled Inez.

Vin laughed and soon they all were and shared their opinions on how Chris would react to it.

The next morning Chris woke up to the feeling of someone watching him. His first thought flew to Ella and he bolted upright to defend himself from her if necessary.

He frowned and saw it was the others. They were all smiling at him and JD's was a huge grin.

Ezra, who was sitting in his bed was half asleep as he tried to smile.

"Is something wrong?" he frowned.

"We need you to stand up."

Chris didn't feel like getting out of bed but he did.

Buck pulled him into an embrace and then Vin joined. Inez pulled Ezra from his bed to join in and the others all joined the hug.

"What's going on?" asked Chris.

"Just let it happen." smiled Buck into Chris's shoulder.

Later that day Chris found some time alone to call Travis. He already knew about Buck and Josiah, but he was hoping the man had some plan on keeping them together.

Josiah's father was abusive so there was some hope in his custody battle.

Buck's however was another problem altogether. Maybe they would take them all in.

It was hopeless wish, but there was still a little hope.

The phone rung until someone picked up, "Hello?"

"Hey Travis, I was hoping I can talk to you about the custody problem."

He heard a long sigh, "Chris, I know you all want to stay together but technically we still don't have a place for you all to stay permanently."

Chris felt a shiver down his spine, his set resolution not to freak out was wavering.

"We need to find a guardian for you all and then we need to handle the situation with you and Inez."

"What about me and Inez?" frowned Chris.

"You two are technically illegal immigrants."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you have no rights as a citizen and can be sent back to where you are from."

Chris knew that for him it would mean going back to an England foster home. For Inez, it would probably not be too good because her family lived with Paolo and that would be giving the boy just what he wanted.

"Is there a way to make us legal immigrants?"

"If you were properly adopted that could work."

Chris wanted to snort at that suggestion.

Who would want to adopt him?

"What are our chances?" he sighed.

"Pardon?"

"What are our chances of us being separated?"

"Chris, try not to think on that point. Just enjoy the time you have with your friends now. If worse comes to worse, I'll see if I can set up a way for you all to keep in contact."

Chris balled up his fist.

"Fine." he said through gritted teeth and put the phone down.

He raked his hair and looked out the window. His eyes squinted, trying to recognize the shape in the distance.

Keeping his eye on it, Chris went outside and tried to get a better look. The person, who he was now sure it was a person, didn't seem to be moving at all.

Chris looked at the house. No one seemed to notice him gone yet.

Crossing the distance between the two, he could make out better who the person was. It was definitely a girl, and there would only be one girl out here.

Chris went rigid as he stood a good distance between them. He wasn't quite sure if she was there to try anything, and he wanted some space to run if necessary.

"You've got a lot of nerve being here. You're on private property and you're trespassing." he growled.

"But you won't say anything will you, Chris?" Ella smiled.

Chris frowned, "Stop whatever you're doing with Buck and Josiah."

"Oh it's not just them. Did they not tell you? I promised to take everyone away from you."

"So what, you're going to send me back home."

"You don't have to go home if you come with me."

"I'd rather stab myself in the eye."

Ella raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I go with you when the last time I was with you you shot me."

"That was because you weren't listening to me."

"And nothing has changed. I still won't. So are you going to shoot me again."

"All that is happening now, nothing can stop it. Even if I wanted to I couldn't."

Chris gritted his teeth and turned to go, done talking to her.

"Nothing can stop what's going to happen."

"Then I can't promise you that I won't kill you." he growled back.

Chris trudged to the house but deviated to the stable and to the gelding, Pony.

He quickly put the saddle on, from the many times of watching the others, and climbed on the saddle.

Chris rode out to the farthest part of Nettie's land on the opposite side where he had seen Ella.

If she was willing to get her hands dirty to get what she wanted then he would have to be willing to do the same to keep his family together.

 **A/N: Sorry for taking so long on the update. Totally forgot another story and have people waiting for me to update that one, and I'm writing my original stories... Just finished it too :) It's set in the old west!**

 **So what do you think Chris is planning to do? When will this mysterious person appear? Will the boys actually be separated before Chris gets a chance to prevent it? Love to read your opinion!**


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